CORTLAND, N.Y. -- In public appearances, Rex Ryan is perpetually optimistic and upbeat. And with the Jets' first training camp practice on tap for Thursday after a productive offseason of adding needed roster pieces, Ryan, the team's head coach, is positively giddy.

In the past week, Ryan talked unabashedly about playoff expectations, and he was back to challenging the Patriots. Ryan sounded a lot like the old Rex, the Rex who couldn't wait to look you in the eye and tell you how terrific he thought the Jets were. And after arriving at SUNY Cortland on Wednesday, Ryan had gushing praise for anything and everything around him.

Some sample quotes:

• On being back in Cortland: "Coming up here, it feels great, you know what to expect, the people here are outstanding, and it’s just great."

• On newly acquired defensive end/outside linebacker Jason Babin: "You can’t have enough pass rushers, and the thing about Jason, the way he plays, his style of play, when I look at things as a coach, you shouldn’t have to teach effort, but there are some guys that are exceptional in this, and Jason is one of them."

• On quarterbacks Geno Smith and Mike Vick: "I don’t know if we have had a better quarterback situation since I have been the head coach here."

• On the team, Part I: "I’ll tell you what, I have a great indication of what we have and certainly wasn’t surprised by this, but this is the first year that I’ve ever been where the entire football team passed the conditioning test. Not one guy (didn’t pass) the conditioning test and it’s not a surprise. This type of team gets it."

• On the team, Part II: "One thing I look at is right now when I talked about the positives that I see with this team, the excitement that I have for them, for our team, and we talked about it."

• On the team, Part III: "I feel great about this team. ... I love the way we compete. We get it now."

• On the team, Part IV: "You see it and you sense it with some players, whether it’s the older veteran players, maybe even the younger players, but they all accept it."

• On the playoffs: "If we could talk about it and get there, it would have already been done."